I made ganache to cover a cake this weekend and before starting I researched like mad what I needed to do. Things went well until it set. I used the microwave technique in slowly heating up the cream and chocolate. I mixed really well and there were no lumps. I used dark chocolate that was 52% cocoa butter and cream that was 33 mf. I did 2 to 1 ratio and used a scale to measure. I let it rest over night and the next day the ganache was really really hard not a soft peanut butter like consistancy. I ended up reheating it until it was much softer and waited until it cooled to use it. My gut feeling is that i should have used a cream with highter mf but not really sure.
If any one out there has any suggestions as to what I did wrong I would love to hear from you.

Nothing! That's what you do! How hard it sets depends on the temperature of your room, and you just reheat it in bursts and stir until it's the consistency you want.

My ganache recipe calls for 3 TBL of butter. Some others call for corn syrup. Mine comes out perfect every time. I'll tell you what it is just to give you an idea if that 's what you need.
I got this from Southern Living.
12 ounces chocolate
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
3 TBL butter.
Heat cream, add chocolate, stir until melted. Whisk in 3 TBl of butter.
I sometimes whip it after it cools down to make a light fluffy filling. Even when cooled in the fridge, this ganache is spreadable.

I will sometimes end up with a too hard ganache, and when it happens, i will gently warm it over a double boiler then mix in a small amount of boiled cream.

when reheating it how do i heat without melting the ganache on the outer edges and still have hard ganache in the middle. it made for a really lumpy consistancy of ganache. i had to completely liquify it, let it cool some and use it semi soft . thanks for the tips. i will try them out.

I just heat it for 30 seconds at a time, and give it a good stir after each time until the lumps go away. You should be able to get it smooth without completely heating it up.

this is why i think i did something wrong. it was rock hard and in reheating it, the sides softened and the middle stayed hard. when stirring it, there were lumps from the hard ganache. then i had to remelt the whole thing to get it smooth. i had to use it at a very soft consistancy. so soft, it was falling off the spatula.

this is why i think i did something wrong. it was rock hard and in reheating it, the sides softened and the middle stayed hard. when stirring it, there were lumps from the hard ganache. then i had to remelt the whole thing to get it smooth. i had to use it at a very soft consistancy. so soft, it was falling off the spatula.

Hmm, what's the temperature like where you are at the moment? Maybe if it's quite cool in your house, the ganache might be staying a bit hard.

Mine melts on the outside first, too. I'm not sure how to describe it. It's warmish when I use it, but still stiff enough to spread. I stir it pretty hard to get the lumps out. Then sometimes it stiffens up if the room is cool, and I need to reheat as I'm going.

Maybe try using more cream next time for a softer consistency at room temp? You want it to be pretty hard at room temp, though, otherwise it won't stay on the cake properly.